Needle bearing assembling apparatus

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides an apparatus capable of assembling a needle bearing with an improved operation efficiency and at a high yield. This needle bearing assembling apparatus is provided with a thrust unit adapted to feed needles sequentially in a row, an arrangement unit adapted to arrange the needles fittable in a hollow formed on the inner side of a roller outer race, and a device for firmly fitting the arranged needles in the hollow on the inner side of the roller outer race.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] This invention relates to a needle bearing assembling apparatus.

[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0004] A hitherto known needle bearing assembling apparatus is formed so that, when a needle bearing is assembled, needles are fed one by one to a rotating index shaft so as to annularly arrange a predetermined number of needles and thereby insert the needles into a hollow on the inner side of a roller outer race. Such a needle bearing assembling apparatus has already been known from Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 50341/1993.

[0005] In the above-described known needle bearing assembling apparatus, needles are fed one by one into the inner side of a roller outer race, so that it takes much time to insert a predetermined number of needles thereinto in an annular configuration. Therefore, it is difficult to say that this needle bearing assembling apparatus has a high operation efficiency. Moreover, feeding a predetermined number of needles one by one makes it difficult to ascertain the number thereof fed in practice, and causes an incidence of shortage of the number of the needles to increase and a yield of a needle bearing to lower.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0006] The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and provides a needle bearing assembling apparatus capable of solving the problems encountered in the known needle bearing assembling apparatus, and having a high operation efficiency and a high yield.

[0007] The inventors of the present invention earnestly studied the attainment of such a needle bearing assembling apparatus to discover that manufacturing a needle bearing assembling apparatus provided with a thrust unit adapted to feed needles sequentially in a row, an arrangement unit adapted to properly arrange needles fittable in the interior of a hollow formed on the inner side of a roller outer race, and a mechanism having a device for fitting the arranged needles firmly in the interior of the hollow on the inner side of the roller outer race caused an operation efficiency of the above-mentioned known needle bearing assembling apparatus to be improved. The inventors have also discovered that feeding the needles collectively facilitates the ascertaining of the number of passing needles, and that providing a needle regulating unit adapted to arrange the needles annularly so that the needles extend in a predetermined direction enables the occurrence of a fall of needles during the collective feeding of thereof to be prevented, and a needle bearing to be assembled at a high yield.

[0008] The inventors further discussed various points repeatedly to come to complete the present invention.

[0009] (1) According to an aspect of the present invention, the needle bearing assembling apparatus has a thrust unit adapted to feed needles sequentially in a row, an arrangement unit adapted to properly arrange the needles fittable in the interior of a hollow formed on the inner side of a roller outer race, and a device adapted to fit the arranged needles firmly in the hollow on the inner side of the roller outer race.

[0010] (2) According to another aspect of the present invention, the needle bearing assembling apparatus is in accordance with the apparatus (1) above, in which the needle arrangement unit is formed of an annularly formed arrangement jig adapted to arrange a predetermined number of needles fed in a row, in such a manner that the needles can be fitted in the interior of the hollow formed on the inner side of the roller outer race.

[0011] (3) According to still another aspect of the present invention, the needle bearing assembling apparatus is in accordance with the apparatus (1) or (2), in which the arrangement unit has a mechanism adapted to be moved vertically until the mechanism gets a predetermined portion of the roller outer race so as to fit the needles firmly in the hollow on the inner side of the roller outer race.

[0012] (4) According to a further aspect of the present invention, the needle bearing assembling apparatus is in accordance with any one of the apparatuses (1) to (3), in which the thrust unit adapted to feed the needles sequentially in a row includes a part feeder for feeding the needles sequentially, a unit having a multistage predetermined number of needles storage mechanism to which the needles are fed in multiple rows, a needle pusher for arranging the needles, which are stored in multiple stages, into a row of predetermined number of needles and pushing the needles up to a position in which the needles are arranged annularly, and a needle regulating unit for arranging the needles annularly so that the needles extend in a predetermined direction.

[0013] (5) According to another aspect of the present invention, the needle bearing assembling apparatus is in accordance with any one of the apparatuses (1) to (4), in which the unit for fitting the needles firmly in the hollow includes a member for supplying grease onto outer circumferential surfaces of the needles.

[0014] (6) According to still another aspect of the present invention, the needle bearing assembling apparatus is in accordance with the apparatus (1), in which the hollow formed on the inner side of the roller outer race is provided between an inner circumferential surface of the roller outer race and an outer circumferential surface of a roller inner race combined and fed with the roller outer race.

[0015] (7) According to still another aspect of the present invention, the needle bearing assembling apparatus is provided with an arrangement jig defined in the apparatus (2).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the following figures, wherein:

[0017]FIG. 1 is a schematic construction diagram in side elevation of an embodiment of the needle bearing assembling apparatus according to the present invention;

[0018]FIG. 2 is a plan view of the needle bearing assembling apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

[0019]FIG. 3 is a side view of a needle bearing with needles fitted firmly therein;

[0020]FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the condition in which the needles stored in multiple stages are arranged into a row of predetermined number of needles; and

[0021]FIG. 5 is a partial enlarged view of an arrangement jig, showing the condition of annularly arranged needles.

[0022] DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS:

[0023]10 . . . needle bearing assembling apparatus

[0024]11 . . . base

[0025]12 . . . feed unit

[0026]13 . . . part feeder

[0027]14 . . . spring chute

[0028]15 . . . multistage predetermined number of needles storage unit

[0029]16 . . . guide plate

[0030]17 . . . needle pusher

[0031]18 . . . needle thrust unit

[0032]19 . . . arrangement jig

[0033]20 . . . fixing jig

[0034]21 . . . grease supply member

[0035]22 . . . arrangement unit

[0036]23 . . . needle inserting unit

[0037]25 . . . slide stage

[0038]26 . . . fitting jig

[0039]27 . . . centering roll

[0040]28 . . . arrangement plate

[0041]30 . . . sensor

[0042]31 . . . needle regulating unit

[0043]50 . . . roller outer race

[0044]51 . . . roller inner race

[0045]52 . . . needles

[0046]53 . . . needle bearing

[0047] A, B, C, . . . air cylinder

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0048] A mode of embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the attached drawings.

[0049] FIGS. 1-5 show an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a schematic construction diagram in side elevation of the needle bearing assembling apparatus in the embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 a plan view of the needle bearing assembling apparatus shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 3 a side view of a needle bearing with needles fitted firmly therein, FIG. 4 a schematic diagram showing the condition in which the needles stored in multiple stages are arranged into a row of predetermined number of needles, and FIG. 5 a partial enlarged view of an arrangement jig, showing the condition of annularly arranged needles.

[0050] First, referring to FIGS. 1-3, a needle bearing assembling apparatus 10 formed on a base 11 is provided with (a) feed unit 12 adapted to feed slidingly in order a roller outer race 50, a roller inner race 51 and a needle-inserted needle bearing 53, (b) a multistage predetermined number of needles storage unit 15 adapted to feed the needles 52 in multiple rows from a part feeder 13 thereto via a spring chute 14 and store the needles in a multiple stages therein, (c) a needle thrust unit 18 provided with a needle pusher 17 adapted to arrange the needles stored in multiple stages into a row of predetermined number of needles 52 along a guide plate 16, and thereafter send the arranged needles 52 collectively into an annular arrangement jig 19 belonging to an arrangement unit 22, (d) a fixing jig 20 for holding a roller outer race 50 and a roller inner race 51 so that an inner circumferential surface of the roller outer race 50 and an outer circumferential surface of the roller inner race 51 define a hollow therebetween, in a position in which the predetermined number of needles 52 arranged in a row are fitted firmly in the hollow, (e) a unit 21 for supplying grease onto outer circumferential surfaces of the needles and an arrangement unit 19 for annularly arranging the needles 52 fittable in the hollow, and (f) a needle inserting unit 23 adapted to be lifted from an air cylinder A up to a position in which the needles are fitted firmly in the hollow.

[0051] First, in the feed unit 12, roller outer races 50 are fed sequentially from an input port (not shown) onto an upper surface of a slide stage 25 thereof. After the inner diameter of the roller outer races 50 are determined by a judgment dummy roller outer race (not shown), a roller inner race 51 is inserted into a space on the inner side of an inner circumferential surface of a roller outer race 50 of a proper inner diameter. When the roller outer race 50 in which the roller inner race 51 is inserted is fed to a position of the arrangement unit 22, a columnar fitting jig 26 of a diameter identical with that of an inner portion of the inner circumferential surface of the roller inner race 51 is inserted into the same inner portion. The fitting jig 26 is adapted to position the roller inner race 51, which is provided so as to define a hollow in advance between the inner circumferential surface of the roller outer race 50 and the outer circumferential surface of the roller inner race 51, in such a manner that the needles 52 arranged in predetermined number of rows in an annular configuration are fitted firmly at once in the hollow. After the fitting jig is inserted into the hollow on the inner side of the inner circumferential surface of the roller inner race 51, the inner race 51 is transferred with the roller outer race 50 in the direction at right angles to the direction in which the slide stage 25 is sent, up to a position in which the assembling of the needles 52 is done. In order to provide the above-mentioned hollow, the outer circumferential surface of the roller outer race 50 is supported on a centering roll 27 of the fixing jig 20.

[0052] The feeding of the needles 52 to be fitted firmly in the hollow on the inner side of the roller outer race 50 will now be described. First, the needles 52 are fed in multiple rows from a part feeder 13 to the multistage predetermined number of needles storage unit 15 via a spring chute 14. The needles 52 fed in multiple rows are slidingly transferred by an air cylinder B, and arranged in a row so that the number of the needles corresponds to a predetermined number thereof to be stored in multiple stages. Referring to FIG. 4 as well, the needles 52 stored in multiple stages in the multistage storage unit 15 are arranged in a row sequentially in a needle thrust unit 18 along a guide plate 16 in accordance with the sliding movements of an arrangement plate 28 and an air cylinder C. A predetermined number of needles 52 arranged in a row are sent collectively into the annular arrangement jig 19, which is adapted to arrange the needles 52 fittable in the hollow formed as mentioned above, by a plate type needle pusher 17 the width and height of which are equal to those of the guide plate 16. Referring to FIG. 5 as well, the ascertaining of the number of the needles 52 being sent collectively into the arrangement jig is done by a sensor 30 immediately before the needles 52 are sent collectively into the jig 19. Since the needles 52 are sent collectively into the jig, the ascertaining of the number of the needles 52 can be done more accurately and easily than in a case where the needles are sent one by one into a similar jig. A device for firmly fitting the needles 52, which are sent collectively into the jig, in the mentioned hollow will be described. First, the needles 52 are sent in order in a predetermined direction at all times into the annular arrangement jig 19 and arranged properly. In order to give regularity to the direction in which the needles 52 are sent, the sending of the needles 52 in a contrary direction is prevented by a plunger member-carrying needle regulating unit 31. The needle regulating unit can prevent the contraflow of the needles. While the needles 52 are forced into the arrangement jig 19, grease for firmly fitting the needles in the hollow is supplied from a grease supply member 21 onto the outer circumferential surfaces of the needles 52. The needles 52 annularly arranged in the arrangement jig 19 are lifted until the needles gets or arrives at a predetermined portion of the roller outer race 50 so that the needles are fitted firmly in the hollow by the air cylinder A, and the needles 52 are thereby fitted firmly in practice in the hollow.

[0053] A needle bearing 53 in which the needles 52 are fitted firmly is transferred to a position of the slide stage 25 of the feed unit 12, and the combining of other structural part, for example, snap rings with the bearing is done to complete the assembling of the needle bearing.

[0054] According to the present invention, a needle bearing can be assembled with an improved operation efficiency and at a high yield by the needle bearing assembling apparatus having a thrust unit adapted to feed needles sequentially in a row, an arrangement unit adapted to arrange the needles fittable in the interior of a hollow formed on the inner side of a roller outer race, and a device adapted to fit the arranged needles firmly in the hollow on the inner side of the roller outer race. Since the needles are pushed collectively into an arrangement jig, the ascertaining of the number of the predetermined number of needles can be done continuously, and the incidence of shortage of the number thereof can be ascertained easily. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A needle bearing assembling apparatus comprising a thrust unit adapted to feed needles sequentially in a row, an arrangement unit adapted to arrange the needles fittable in the interior of a hollow formed on the inner side of a roller outer race, and a device adapted to fit the arranged needles firmly in the hollow on the inner side of the roller outer race.
 2. A needle bearing assembling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the needle arrangement unit is formed of an annularly formed arrangement jig adapted to arrange a predetermined number of needles fed in a row, in such a manner that the needles can be fitted in the interior of the hollow formed on the inner side of the roller outer race.
 3. A needle bearing assembling apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the arrangement unit has a mechanism adapted to be moved vertically until the mechanism gets a predetermined portion of the roller outer race so as to fit the needles firmly in the hollow on the inner side of the roller outer race.
 4. A needle bearing assembling apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the thrust unit adapted to feed the needles sequentially in a row includes a part feeder for feeding the needles sequentially, a unit having a multistage predetermined number of needles storage mechanism to which the needles are fed in multiple rows, a needle pusher for arranging the needles, which are stored in multiple stages, into a row of predetermined number of needles and pushing the needles up to a position in which the needles are arranged annularly, and a needle regulating unit for arranging the needles annularly so that the needles extend in a predetermined direction.
 5. A needle bearing assembling apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the unit for fitting the needles firmly in the hollow includes a member for supplying grease onto outer circumferential surfaces of the needles.
 6. A needle bearing assembling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the hollow formed on the inner side of the roller outer race is provided between an inner circumferential surface of the roller outer race and an outer circumferential surface of a roller inner race combined and fed with the roller outer race.
 7. A needle bearing assembling apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the apparatus is provided with the arrangement jig defined in claim
 2. 